Together we have made history here today. For the first time
we have carried out the command of the 25th Amendment. In exactly
8 weeks, we have demonstrated to the world that our great
Republic stands solid, stands strong upon the bedrock of the
Constitution.

I am a Ford, not a Lincoln. My addresses will never be as
eloquent as Mr. Lincoln's. But I will do my very best to equal
his brevity and his plain speaking.

I am deeply grateful to you, Mr. President, for the trust and
the confidence your nomination implies.

As I have throughout my public service under six
administrations I will try to set a fine example of respect for
the crushing and lonely burdens which the Nation lays upon the
President of the United States. Mr. President, you have my
support and my loyalty.

To the Congress assembled, my former colleagues who have
elected me on behalf of our fellow countrymen I express my
heartfelt thanks.

As a man of the Congress, let me reaffirm my conviction that
the collective wisdom of our two great legislative bodies, while
not infallible, will in the end serve the people faithfully and
very, very well. I will not forget the people of Michigan who
sent me to this Chamber or the friends that I have found here.

Mr. Speaker, I understand that the United States Senate
intends in a very few minutes to bind me by its rules. For their
Presiding Officer, this amounts practically to a vow of silence.
Mr. Speaker, you know how difficult this is going to be for me.

Before I go from this House, which has been my home for a
quarter century, I must say I am forever in its debt.

And particularly, Mr. Speaker, thank you for your friendship
which I certainly am not leaving. To you, Mr. Speaker, and to all
of my friends here, however you voted an hour ago, I say a very
fond goodbye. May God bless the House of Representatives and
guide all of you in the days ahead.

Mr. Chief Justice, may I thank you personally for
administering the oath, and thank each of the Honorable Justices
for honoring me with you attendance. I pledge to you, as I did
the day I was first admitted to the bar, my dedication to the
rule of law and equal justice for all Americans.

For standing by my side as she always has, there are no words
to tell you, my dear wife and mother of our four wonderful-
children, how much their being here means to me.

As I look into the faces that fill this familiar room, and as
I imagine those faces in other rooms across the land, I do not
see members of the legislative branch or the executive branch or
the judicial branch, though I am very much aware of the
importance of keeping the separate but coequal branches of our
Federal Government in balance. I do not see Senators or
Representatives, nor do I see Republicans or Democrats, vital as
the two-party system is to sustain freedom and responsible
government.

At this moment of visible and living unity, I see only
Americans. I see Americans who love their country, Americans who
work and sacrifice for their country and their children. I see
Americans who pray without ceasing for peace among all nations
and for harmony at home. I see new generations of concerned and
courageous Americans -- but the same kind of Americans -- the
children and grandchildren of those Americans who met the
challenge of December 7, just 32 years ago.

Mr. Speaker, I like what I see.

Mr. Speaker, I am not discouraged. I am indeed humble to be
the 40th Vice President of the United States, but I am proud --
very proud -- to be one of 200 million Americans. I promise my
fellow citizens only this: To uphold the Constitution, to do what
is right as God gives me to see the right, and within the limited
powers and duties of the Vice Presidency to do the very best that
I can for America.

I will do these things with all the strength and good sense
that I have, with your help, and through your prayers.

Thank you.

Address delivered before a Joint Session of the Congress
on December 6, 1973, immediately after taking the Oath of Office
as the 40th Vice President of the United States. This text is
from the folder "Inauguration Remarks, December 6, 1973"
in box 127 of the Gerald R. Ford Vice Presidential Papers.